Baseball

Cal’s baseball team has a lot of potential, as five members of the team are already committed to play in college, including three at Division 1 schools.

Seniors Nic Bronzini and Raoul Fabian are going to play for Louisiana State University and Cal State Long Beach, respectively, and junior Aidan Camberg has already committed to be a member of UC Santa Barbara’s 2023 roster.

“LSU is definitely exciting,” Bronzini said. “A dream come true for me. But that’s next fall. I’m locked into this season.”

Aside from that trio, seniors Steven Verespey, Zach Robman, and Dylan Fanelli have also committed to play in Division 3 at Willamette University,  Puget Sound, and Allegheny College, respectively.

Bronzini is very confident that with all of this talent, Cal will be able to be quite competitive this season.

“We will definitely make NCS,” Bronzini said. “We can make a deep run. I definitely think we are a top 5 team in NCS.”

– Eli Mayerson

Softball

Coach Tony Bari and his favorite assistant Tim Ford returns this season with hopes of putting Cal High’s softball team back on the map.

“I’m really optimistic about these guys, they work really hard, I’m proud of them,” Bari said.

Team captain  Alyssa Villarde is also optimistic about the potential of the 17-girl squad.

“Our team is looking pretty good,” Villarde said. “We have a great defense and hitters. We picked up a freshman who’s really good.” 

Bari and Ford seem to be quite the dynamic duo and have hopes of winning NCS. 

Villarde said that she has confidence and is excited with this year’s new coaching staff, believing that they are just what this team needs.

“I love this school, I love these girls,” Bari said. “My kids went here. This is a part of my life. I’m not going anywhere.” 

– Lili Loney

Men’s Lacrosse

Despite pre-season losses to Redwood and Marin Catholic, senior captain Matthew Hanson is confident in his team.

Head coach Andrew Ertola shares Hanson’s optimism. Ertola is looking forward to league and hoping for a strong season. 

“We had a couple of tough losses against some really good teams,” Ertola said. “We still have a lot of work to do, but looking good.”

Ertola said the game against San Ramon Valley will be the biggest of the season. Hanson has confidence that Cal will come out on top, as they beat the Wolves last year. 

“Our defense is really good, and we have great leadership,” Ertola said.

In addition to Hanson, the other captains are seniors Hunter Holmes and Marcus Lemmon, both of whom continue to show their leadership and dedication to the program.

This lacrosse team doesn’t seem to just be a bunch of “lax bros”. They are here to win.

– Lili Loney

Women’s Lacrosse

This will be head coach Shannon Geary’s first full season as she took over the program last year.  The team is led by four captains, including  seniors Evie McMahon, Catherine Casserly, Kadence MacPherson, and sophomore Abbey Kunz.

Another key contributor to the team will be freshman Chase Weaver, who plays for the national team on her club outside of Cal lacrosse. 

“We have a pretty strong team this year,” senior Diya Madhok said. “We just need to get our chemistry down, which will take some time, and then focus on sticking to our defensive plan.”

The team is pretty balanced overall, as they have a mix of veteran leadership and young talent, including a dozen underclassmen. 

“As a team, we want to keep the intensity very high without letting it get in the way of our chemistry,” Casserly said. “We really just want to represent our school and students as best as we can.” 

– Dylan Allen

Men’s Golf

The men’s varsity golf team has high hopes to make NCS  this year behind the leadership of five seniors, including captains Ben Ragland and Ishaan Sen.

“We are pretty set this year,” Ragland said. “Last year we did okay. And the year before that, it got cut short due to COVID. So, I’m hoping we can come together and make the playoffs this year and then go on a run.”

Ragland recently committed to Seattle University, which has a Division 1 golf program. 

“I’m excited for the competition to pick up, and to be able to play a lot of new courses,” Ragland said. “But I’m also just really focused on this year because I think we can do well.”

Rounding out the rest of the 12 members on the team are four juniors and three sophomores. Sen’s brother, Ahan Sen, is a sophomore that made the team and should be an important contributor. Along with both Sen’s, junior Andrew James should also be a big contributor to the team. They are led by head coaches Mike Pottinger and Brian Barr.

“One goal we have for the season is to try and take down De La Salle and win EBAL,” senior Riley Hicks said.

The team got off to a good start by placing fourth out of 26 schools on March 2 at the Cowboy Classic at Wente Golf Course. Ragland and Dylan Hilliard placed in the top 10 with 2-over rounds of 73.

The golf team has a long road ahead of them, but they have high hopes that the adversity they go through now will help them come playoff time. 

– Dylan Allen

Men’s Volleyball

The men’s volleyball team started practicing a week later than all the other sports this spring season because new coach Mariah Cardenas hadn’t been hired yet.

Despite this late start, the team is rolling early on. 

“Yesterday we had our first game and [the athletes] said that it was the highest points they’ve scored [in a game],” Cardenas said. 

“[The new coach is] better than [others have] been the past two years I’ve been playing,” junior varsity setter and team captain Tyler Cheung said. “She’s more focused on getting more playing time and less on winning.”

Although Cardenas has just arrived at Cal, she is already looking to make an imprint on the culture of the volleyball program.

 “[I want to] build fundamental skills and build support with the kids,” Cardenas said.

–Ylin Zhu

Stunt

Although COVID has shortened their last two seasons, the stunt team is looking forward to an exciting spring season.

“The past two years, we’ve been completely undefeated. That’s definitely a goal this year,” said coach Bianca Lucatero, who has coached Cal’s stunt team since 2015.  “We’ve also gotten NCS  champs second and third in the past years.” 

The plan for the season is simple for Lucatero, who said, “We haven’t been NCS champs yet. It’s a goal of ours.”

Junior Brooklyn Gantt, one of the team captains, also hopes the team is able to make it to NCS championships this year. 

“Our team has been close every year but we’ve been cut off by COVID, so I hope this year’s better.” Gantt said.

In terms of competition, Amador and Monte Vista are Cal’s main rivals. 

The team consists of 13 new and 15 returning members.

“I definitely feel this team already feels way more bonded than the other years,” said Gantt. “We have in the past had older, more skillful girls but…we’re starting to grow this year.”

Lucatero said the team’s strengths are strong bases with good technique.

“One thing that would be a weakness this year would be our jumps,” Lucatero said.  

But the team is looking forward to a successful season. 

“We’re all kind of learning right now,” said Gantt. “We can all build each other up very well.”

– Kira Sidhu

Men’s tennis

This season will be the10th for coach Manuel Vasquez, who hopes his team will reach the NCS championships.

“That’s like the biggest goal that we have because we haven’t done it for, like, five, six years, and this year’s team is pretty strong,” Vasquez said. “We have a very good chance to come in second place this season.”

Senior Dylan Hoang, one of the team captains, is also confident that they’ll be able to make it to the NCS championships.

“I would say that we are substantially better than we used to be,” said Hoang, who is most looking forward to playing against Monte Vista.

Vasquez said Dougherty Valley is thought of as Cal’s rivals because of how close they are, and it is a game most players are excited about. 

“That’s the one that everybody puts on their calendar.” Vasquez said.

Hoang said most of the top players on the team are returning from previous years, but there are multiple new players that are also quite good.

“We have a lot of tournament players,” Vasquez said. “So with more practice, more team bonding, I think we’re going to be a complete team.”

– Kira Sidhu

Track and Field

The track team is back to having around 275 athletes, which is how large the roster used to be pre-COVID,  head coach and varsity sprinters coach Mark Karbo said. 

Despite it being early, Karbo said there have been a lot of good marks so far. 

“[The season] has been pretty good,”  junior sprinter and jumper Ava Olguin said. “[The] team dynamic is really good, the meets are pretty smooth.”

Karbo said seniors Mara Lampsas and Hannah Richardson were the MVPs of last year’s track and field. Lampsas, a sprinter and jumper, is on her way to run at UC Berkeley. Richardson, a thrower, is going to Azusa Pacific.

Senior distance runner Jenny Lin is also going to be running at New York University.

– Ylin Zhu

Swim

The swim team is making a  splash after COVID with a new, optimistic outlook for the season.   

“I have high hopes,” junior Paul Symank said. “Last season we had to go to SRV’s pool, and the season before that it was cut short. It sucked.”

The swim team did not have a coach last year, but this year the team is excited to be under new guidance.

“I think it’s going to go splendidly,” senior Miranda Duarte said. “We finally have our pool back and we have new coaching staff.”

“I really like the coaches,” freshman Sienna Trento said. “They just both seem really nice and fun.”

Duarte agreed with Trento’s sentiments.

“They’re very supportive and considerate and open,” Duarte said.

– Daphne So